Manky Hats, Singing Poems, and Double Doors
by Lizzi-Mae21
Summary: This story is in remembrance of three of my friends. Ginny reflects on good times and bad times she's had in the Great Hall while attending funerals after the Final Battle.


**A/N: **I know that Harry didn't hear his Valentine's Day poem in the Great Hall but for the sake of the theme of the story he did. Other than that small detail- and the fact that I don't know if the Great Hall doors are oak or not- this story is mostly in cannon.

**Warning: This IS a tear-jerker (at least for me). **

**Disclaimer**: without J.K. Rowling and a public speaker (who will remain nameless) this story would not be possible. I do not own the Harry Potter characters or universe. This story was inspired by a speech I once heard. I had planned to write this story after hearing the speech, however I had never felt the despair Ginny felt so the story was never written right. As I sat listening to the speech I wondered at how horrible it would be to walk in to my school gym every day, and think back to the good, and the bad, that had happened throughout my high school years. Unfortunately, after this summer I no longer had to wonder what it would be like to attend a funeral in the gym because I went to one in July, and a double funeral in August. It is sad that two tragedies had to strike my community in a very short time frame for me to realize how gut-wrenchingly horrible losing a loved one (especially one with so much life left to live) really is.

Manky Hats, Singing Poems, and Double Doors

A wave of emotions washed over Ginny as she opened the gigantic double doors leading to the Great Hall; they threatened to knock her over,and carry her away. In this place she had experienced the proudest moment of her life, the most embarrassing breakfast she could recall, the scariest minute of her life, and now the most heart wrenching sadness she'd ever undergone.

Ginny could vividly remember the first time she'd walked through these heavy, oak doors: she'd been eleven and scrawny. She felt somewhat at ease as she took in her surroundings, standing in the dimly lit corridor with at least two dozen other scared looking eleven year olds. She had heard on the train that first years had to fight a troll to prove their worth before being sorted into their houses, and she was frightened by such a prospect, but then she recalled a letter Ron had sent her, explaining how he and his two best friends had taken down a fully grown mountain troll. Ginny stood a little taller knowing that if _Ron _could do it so could she. The doors opened, and she followed the other students. All around the hall older students watched the young ones enter, but Ginny wasn't focused on them, instead she was focused on the manky old hat that sat at the end of the row of tables. When Ginny's name was later called, she dutifully put the hat on her head; pride swelled in her chest when the hat yelled "Gryffindor!"

That very same year she'd had the most horrible crush on her brother's best friend, Harry Potter. At Valentine's Day she wrote him a poem, and had it delivered to him. Sadly it did not get to him in private like she'd hoped, but instead at breakfast in front of everyone. As the dwarf sang her poem to Harry in front of _everyone _she really wished she could just sink into the floor and disappear, however fate had never really been nice to her; instead of no one noticing how red she was getting Malfoy yelled "I didn't know you wrote poetry, Weaslette!" After running out the doors as fast as her legs could carry her she vowed to never write another singing poem.

Years later she would stand in that very same Great Hall with battle waging all around her: the love of her life locked in a duel to the death with the Dark Lord, and herself in combat with the mad witch, Bellatrix Lestrange. Just as she'd closed her eyes, preparing for the green light that would end her life she heard her mother shriek "not my daughter you bitch!" What felt like hours later she turned around, and Harry stood over the dead body of Tom Riddle. The fear she'd felt before quickly turned to relief as she realized that it was all over, Harry had won and now Tom really was just a memory.

The redhead walked through the doors once again. Just days ago this room had been nothing but rubble, and the doors that she'd walked through every day had been nothing more than ashes. Now the hall had been restored to its former glory, but something was very different. The banners representing each house were not hung, in their place were long black banners adorned with the Hogwarts crest. She recognized the faces of almost everyone in the room, but none of them were smiling. She quickly found her seat next to her family and Harry, and she sat down. The officiator spoke, but it was all just a low hum to Ginny, there were no words that would ever bring back Fred and the countless others that had lost their lives. Everyone's lives would be forever changed by the evil that had touched the grounds of Hogwarts.

As Ginny looked around she saw some students, she was sure they'd had experiences similar to her own in this very same room, but there were others like the Creevy brothers' father who had never been here before. He would never be able to come to this castle and remember a happy time, he would always think of his sons' wake.

As people filed out the doors one by one Ginny wondered how she was supposed to make it through each day knowing that Fred, and so many others were gone, and knowing that it could just as easily been her. As Harry reached down to take her hand in his she knew what she must do: every day she would wake up and just keep breathing. She would live her life because that's what Fred would have wanted, but she would never forget, and she would always love him.

This hall had been filled with embarrassing, scary, sad, good, and bad memories. As she looked at Harry she realized maybe they could make some new ones.

This story is dedicated to the three high school students from my community who lost their lives in the summer of 2012, I am very honored, and blessed to say that I was their friend in life. The families will forever be in my thoughts and prayers.


End file.
